[Introduced February 9, 2005; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary.]

A BILL to amend and reenact §48-1-230 of the code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended; and to amend said code by adding thereto two
new sections, designated §48-18-119a and §48-18-119b, all
relating to child support generally; providing for liens upon
child support obligors' proceeds from worker's compensation
awards, from civil settlements, judgments, or awards from
arbitration or other alternative dispute resolutions.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §48-1-230 of the code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted; and that said code be amended by adding
thereto two new sections, designated §48-18-119a and §48-18-119b,
all to read as follows:ARTICLE 1. GENERAL PROVISIONS; DEFINITIONS.

PART 2--DEFINITIONS.

§48-1-230. Income defined.

"Income" includes, but is not limited to, the following:

(1) Commissions, earnings, salaries, wages, and other income
due or to be due in the future to an individual from his or her
employer and successor employers;

(2) Any payment due or to be due in the future to an
individual from a profit-sharing plan, a pension plan, an insurance
contract, an annuity, social security, unemployment compensation,
supplemental employment benefits, workers' compensation benefits,
judgments, settlements, awards resulting from arbitration or other
alternative dispute resolution, state lottery winnings and prizes,
and overtime pay;

(3) Any amount of money which is owing to an individual as a
debt from an:(A) An individual, partnership, limited partnership,
association, limited liability company, or public or private
corporation,;(B)theThe United States or any federal agency, this state or
any political subdivision of this state, another state or a
political subdivision of another state,; or(C)anyAny other person or legal entity whichthat is indebted
to the obligor.ARTICLE 18. BUREAU FOR CHILD SUPPORT ENFORCEMENT.

§48-18-119a. Obtaining support from workers' compensation
benefits.

(a) The commissioner of the bureau of employment programs shall determine on a periodic basis whether individuals receiving workers'
compensation benefits owe child support obligations which are being
enforced or have been requested to be enforced by the bureau for
child support enforcement. If an individual is receiving such
compensation and owes any such child support obligation which is not
being met, the bureau for child support enforcement shall enter into
an agreement with such individual to have specified amounts withheld
otherwise payable to such individual, and shall submit a copy of
such agreement to the Workers' Compensation Division. In the
absence of such agreement, the bureau for child support enforcement
shall bring legal process to require the withholding of amounts from
such compensation.
(b) The secretary shall enter into a written agreement with the
Workers' Compensation Division for the purpose of withholding
workers' compensation from individuals with unmet support
obligations being enforced by the bureau for child support
enforcement. The bureau for child support enforcement shall agree
only to a withholding program that it expects to be cost effective,
and, as to reimbursement, shall agree only to reimburse the Workers'
Compensation Division for its actual, incremental costs of providing
services to the bureau for child support enforcement.
(c) The commission shall promulgate a procedural rule for
selecting cases to pursue through the withholding of workers'
compensation for support purposes. This rule shall be designed to ensure maximum case selection and minimal discretion in the
selection process.
(d) The commissioner shall, not less than annually, provide a
receipt to an individual who requests a receipt for the support paid
through the withholding of workers' compensation, if receipts are
not provided through other means.
(e) The commissioner shall, through direct contact with the
Workers' Compensation Division, process cases through the Workers'
Compensation Division in this state, and shall process cases through
support enforcement agencies in other states. The commissioner
shall receive all amounts withheld by the Workers' Compensation
Division in this state, forwarding any amounts withheld on behalf
of support enforcement agencies in other states to those agencies.
(f) At least one time per year, the commission shall review and
document program operations, including case selection criteria
established under subsection (c) of this section, and the costs of
the withholding process versus the amounts collected and, as
necessary, modify procedures and renegotiate the services provided
by the Workers' Compensation Division to improve program and cost
effectiveness.
(g) For the purposes of this section:
(1) "Legal process" means a writ, order, summons or other
similar process in the nature of garnishment which is issued by a
court of competent jurisdiction or by an authorized official pursuant to an order to such court or pursuant to state or local
law.
(2) "Workers' compensation" means any compensation under state
workers' compensation law, as set forth in chapter twenty-three of
this code. For purposes of this section, it does not include
payments made under section three or four, article four, chapter
twenty-three of this code.§48-18-119b. Insurance claim intercept law.
(a) The Legislature hereby authorizes the bureau for child
support enforcement to join with other states and their
administrative powers and with insurance companies in a multi-state
network wherein the various states pool their delinquent child
support obligor information in the network database, which is then
electronically matched daily with claims filed with insurance
companies across the country.
(b) Upon notice from the network that there is a claim and
matching to a delinquent obligor, the bureau of child support
enforcement shall use claim information and company contacts to
follow up immediately with the insurance company to file the
appropriate administrative notice of lien or income withholding
order against any future settlement.

NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide for liens on child
support obligors proceeds from workers' compensation awards, civil
settlements, judgments, arbitration and other alterative dispute resolution awards.

strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.

§48-18-119a and §48-18-119b is new; therefore, strike-throughs
and underscoring have been omitted.